


Shadows Under Moonlight

by Chizu5645



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Crimson Flower Route, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Romantic Fluff, Sleeping Together, Spoilers for Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:15:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22028416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chizu5645/pseuds/Chizu5645
Summary: And what good does wondering do when you can't do a damn thing about it?
Relationships: Caspar von Bergliez & Linhardt von Hevring, Caspar von Bergliez/Linhardt von Hevring
Comments: 1
Kudos: 46





	Shadows Under Moonlight

Usually, Caspar didn't know why he woke up in the middle of the night. Maybe the tavern room was too hot, or too cold. Maybe the bed was much harder than the beds they've slept in at the other taverns. Maybe the travel rations didn't sit right in his stomach. Whatever the reason, it never caused much alarm and he always managed to go back to sleep by slinging an arm around Linhardt and drifting off. 

But this time, when he tried to go back to sleep, his arm only hit the open air. 

The first thought that crossed his mind was that Linhardt was sleeping on the floor. Not uncommon, especially if they both stunk and didn't have access to a river. But today they had bathed in the river, and with good soap too. The second thought was that Linhardt was behind him instead of in front of him, but his foot met a solid wall when he kicked back. Now concerned, Caspar sat up and rubbed his eyes. Linhardt couldn't have left the room, so where was he...?

And there Linhardt was, cloaked in misty moonlight next to the window. His head was turned towards the outside, but his eyes weren't focused. His long hair, soft and silky, draped over his shoulders. If Caspar were more poetic, he would describe Linhardt as a serene fairy. He hated to ruin this image of perfection. 

Unfortunately, he didn't have much choice. The moment his foot put weight on a squeaky floorboard, Linhardt's head whipped towards his direction. 

"... You're not in bed," Caspar whispered. He sat up on the bed so he wouldn't awkwardly hang from its edge. "Why?" 

Linhardt turned away, and shadows overtook the lower part of his face. "I can't stop thinking. It's making it very difficult to sleep." 

Well, that was new. Caspar couldn't even recall a time where Linhardt would pass up sleep during the night for anything. Still, he didn't comment on that and instead asked, "Thinking about what?" 

"Things." Linhardt took a lock of hair between his fingers and brushed it over and over. "My parents, my Crest, my life, my... my future." 

Caspar's face fell. "Hey, if you want to go back home--" 

"No. That's not the issue," he interrupted. "Honestly, I never planned to join the nobility. My parents and our name be damned, I couldn't care less about influence and inheriting the title of Lord Hevring. Edelgard's war just made it easier to refuse them." His eyes narrowed. "But sometimes -- and I blame the war for this -- I wonder. And I wonder what miserable life I would be leading if I took my father's title, or if I became Edelgard's expert in crestology. Or I wonder what would happen if Edelgard lost and I am kept a prisoner of war in Faerghus, rotting in a cell or enduring backbreaking labor simply because I couldn't run fast enough. What would my parents do then? Lament the loss of their only son? Or simply shrug and have another, more worthy child?" In the dark, Caspar caught a glimpse of Linhardt's hands shaking. "I wonder and I wonder, but it does no good and I can't sleep." 

... Oh. Caspar gulped. This was... heavy stuff. And he didn't know how to deal with heavy stuff; usually, it was _him_ unloading onto Linhardt, not the other way around. Linhardt would sit patiently and listen to him rant and rave about the smallest things, then offer his own advice. If the advice didn't help, the feeling off his chest and shoulders did wonders for Caspar. That's what he liked about Linhardt: he could actually stand to listen to him. And now it was his turn to give advice. 

"Well," he started out, immediately regretting how unsure he sounded. "I mean... Those could've happened, right?" When Linhardt didn't respond, Caspar took it as his hint to continue. "But that's _not_ what happened. We won a war, and now we're off traveling. And so there's no point in wondering about what _could_ happen. Right?" 

Linhardt was silent for a long time. So long, in fact, that Caspar half wondered if Linhardt fell asleep on the chair. He was about to stand up and shake his friend awake when Linhardt stood up to sit next to him. The bed dipped from his weight, and Caspar couldn't help but lean into Linhardt slightly. 

"You're always so optimistic," Linhardt murmured, threading his fingers into Caspar's hand. The gesture immediately made Caspar feel warm in his chest. "I don't know how you do it." 

Caspar snorted. "Yeah, well, it's something I'm good at." 

A ghost of a smile tugged on Linhardt's lips. "You're good at a lot of things. Don't sell yourself short." 

"Yeah, yeah. But now it's your turn to do something you're good at: sleep. I'll hug ya if it makes you feel better." Shuffling backward on the bed, Caspar wrapped his arms around Linhardt's torso and pulled him close. Linhardt didn't object once, even helping by tossing the sheets onto them once they were settled. "Think in bed, you goofus." 

"Easy for you to say," Linhardt retorted playfully. "And I'm not a goofus." 

Caspar grinned into Linhardt's back. "Okay... goofus. Now go to sleep." 

He waited for another response to come, but once he heard soft snoring, he knew Linhardt had finally settled. Caspar shimmied up so he could be closer to the crook of Linhardt's shoulder. His nose got a whiff of clean cotton and washed hair, and he sighed happily. 

"Good night," he muttered into dark green hair, and he drifted off. 

**Author's Note:**

> Did I publish a fic just to announce I have a Twitter? Why, yes I did!
> 
> [@donuts3132](https://twitter.com/donuts3132)


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